Thursday, October 9, 2014

Corps advises that Port of Charleston channel be dredged to 52 feet

A new Army Corps of Engineers study released Tuesday recommends that the main navigation channels should be deepened to 52 feet at the Port of Charleston, which would give it the deepest shipping lanes on the East Coast.

The deeper harbor could give the port a huge edge as shipping lines deploy more supersized container vessels.

"The entire project is economically justified," said the Army Corps in its preliminary environmental impact report.

Based on the recommendations in the study, the port would gain an extra 7 feet of draft for its Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant and a new container port it's building on the old Navy base in North Charleston.

The estimated cost of the dredge is $509 million, well above the latest previous estimate of around $350 million that was based on dredging to 50 feet. Federal and state government would fund $166 million and $343 million, respectively.

"I believe it's a signature day for our port in terms of our competitiveness. It's a signature day for our region," said Jim Newsome, president and chief executive officer of the S.C. State Ports Authority. "We are the only port that will have 50 feet or deeper in the Southeast."

The final version of the report will be released in September 2015. Engineering and construction work would follow.

For more of The Post and Courier story: www.postandcourier.com



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